Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Memetrics
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktVital Statistics:
| Last | Change | |
| S&P futures | 3439 | -41.6 |
| Oil (WTI) | 39.82 | 0.79 |
| 10 year government bond yield | 0.70% | |
| 30 year fixed rate mortgage | 2.91% |
Stocks are lower this morning after it looks both parties are throwing in the towel on further stimulus. Bonds and MBS are up.
Initial Jobless Claims rose to 899,000 last week as more and more small businesses succumb to social distancing.
While restaurants and bars are struggling, housing continues to be the bright spot in the US economy. The MBA just reported that mortgage applications for new homes are up 38% YOY. “The strong year-over-year results for non-seasonally adjusted new home sales applications – up 38 percent – and estimated home sales – up 20 percent – are indicative of the fundamental strength seen in the housing market since the spring,” said Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “Demand for newly built homes is strong, as many buyers appear to seek more space for work, in-home schooling, and leisure.”
Wells announced that mortgage origination volume increased 5% from Q2 to a total of $62 billion, while Bank of America reported a 44% decrease in originations. Surprising to see a major bank pull back during one of the best years the industry has ever seen.
Rents have been falling, although the decline moderated in September. There have been fears that apartment landlords have been buying tenants by cutting rent. It looks like that might be going away.
Filed under: Economy, Morning Report |
All Things in Moderation 
Vox goes full Vox:
“It’s time to end presidential debates — forever
At least in the general election, they’re a vector for misinformation and don’t seem to meaningfully inform voters.
By Dylan Matthews
Oct 15, 2020, 12:00pm EDT”
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21515703/presidential-debate-town-hall-canceled
They never seem to follow their arguments to the logical end point. If they really believe the stuff they say about getting rid of debates and restricting speech, then those are also arguments against democracy in the first place.
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Short memories. Both BHO/McC and BHO/Mitt were civics lessons.
Clinton, Perot, and Bush 41 in 1992 was actually really fun.
This can happen again, but only if debates themselves can happen. We can survive some stupid debates.
——————-
I was not expecting anything from the ACB hearings and thus was not disappointed. Only the experience appellate lawyers have shined, in the sense that lawyers were impressed. Roberts, RBG, Scalia, and Kagan gave extemporaneous lessons on the history of American law while never committing to decide a future case, but they showed that they knew all the law that was known and far more than the Judiciary Committee did, and in Roberts true masterpiece he often showed that he could argue any side, as we were taught to do.
ACB, not having to win over a single vote and knowing that was impossible anyway played it utterly safe. The only “bad” swing and miss was on Sasse’s First Amendment softball. First time I have ever heard a Judiciary Committee member know more than the nominee about anything. Could have been just a brain fart, but it was a question that I could have handled, so it was an ultimate blown uncontested layup.
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Serious question though Mark, what was learned from those debates that wasn’t already known?
Schedule the two nominees for a 90 minute Q and A between each other with no other rules. What’s wrong with that?
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I’ve always thought the presidential debates were a waste of time, even pre-Trump. The primary problem in my view is the format…they aren’t actual debates at all. Get rid of the panel of journalists, have a single moderator whose only job is to keep track of time, and have either a single or a series of pre-established propositions that the candidates will take different positions on. Then each candidate has X amount of time to put forward their position, then ask a series of questions of the other side, and finally a closing statement. In other words, an actual debate, not these competing press conferences that we call debates.
Of course this will never happen, because it doesn’t allow journalists to preen, and candidates would actually have to know how to, you know, debate.
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Serious question though Mark, what was learned from those debates that wasn’t already known?
I no longer remember much detail other than that McCain had a firm grasp of foreign policy and Obama could explain the market crash, from those debates.
Ross Perot never dodged a question at all, forcing more candor on the other two.
And maybe I am remembering through a glass darkly or through rose colored lenses.
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And I found the Trump/Biden debate entertaining as hell and I bet most people did as well though I suspect they’d never admit it. For me, it was the first worthwhile debate I’ve ever seen as there was essentially no ability and desire of either participant to listen to the “moderator”.
And if we want to bitch about Trump interrupting, Biden interrupted him 3 times and Wallace interrupted him once before Trump interrupted Biden. At that point it was game on and that’s when it got interesting.
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Trump corrupts everyone he touches.
https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2020/10/15/c-span-suspends-steve-scully-indefinitely-after-admitting-he-lied-about-twitter-hack/
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McWing:
Trump corrupts everyone he touches.
Did he touch Hunter and Joe Biden, too?
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Perfect example!
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Lol
https://hotair.com/archives/john-s-2/2020/10/15/vote-barrett-set-next-week-democrats-warn-consequences-dianne-feinstein/
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Baby, why you make me hit you?
He had been frustrated by Trump’s comments and several weeks of criticism on social media and conservative news outlets about his role as moderator, including attacks directed at his family, he said.
https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-joe-biden-donald-trump-anthony-scaramucci-4657ccd8f5e51d1ce113290b9304f9d5
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Follow the science.
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Also an argument against Vox.
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Should Trump get reelected, he should put Chris Christie in charge of the Coronavirus task force:
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